New-style instant food is no longer selling well! Kantar data shows that in 2024, sales of China's new-style instant food market, with penetration nearing 60%, fell 9% year-on-year. A key reason for the decline is that consumers are no longer willing to pay high prices. Data indicates that across various new-style instant food categories such as instant noodles, instant hotpot, and instant rice, mid- and low-priced products are gaining share while high-priced products are declining sharply. In the new consumption era, new-style instant food, which grew rapidly during the pandemic, is now facing real challenges: on one hand, consumers want healthier, better-tasting products at lower prices; on the other, the expansion of food delivery and innovation in traditional instant noodles are accelerating the capture of existing market demand. Of course, challenges also mean opportunities. Recently, New Distribution learned that Hezhenran, a fresh rice brand, sold over 18 million boxes of self-heating rice in the past year! Its products are hot sellers in over 50 snack chain brands such as Mingming Henmang, Haoxianglai, and Lingyou Youming, and nearly 100 well-known supermarket and convenience store chains across the country have introduced them. In addition, sales in BC stores and campus channels are also growing rapidly. It's worth noting that Hezhenran is a completely new brand, with its products only launched to the market in early 2024. Recently, I had the opportunity to have an in-depth exchange with Mao Yuandong, CEO of Hezhenran. He shared with me the experience of Hezhenran's rapid market breakthrough and also elaborated on his thoughts on the current instant rice industry. I found that the current market is facing a split: consumer demand has changed, but the supply side cannot respond well. Hezhenran is an excellent case of new supply responding to new demand. This article shares the core content of our exchange with you. I believe you will be inspired after reading it!

Pain Points of Self-Heating Rice:

"Genuine" and "Fair Price"

"Actually, the industry should reflect: it's our own fault for not doing well." Speaking of the decline in sales of new-style instant food, especially instant rice, Mao Yuandong, CEO of Hezhenran, said this. Hezhenran is a proprietary brand launched by Guoran Food. In 2019, Guoran Food participated in pioneering the self-heating rice category and has since provided dish pack production and OEM services for various domestic and international instant food brands, witnessing the entire process of new-style instant food becoming increasingly abundant, explosive growth during the pandemic, and later entering a bottleneck period. As a co-pioneer and important companion of the category, Guoran Food has a comprehensive and profound understanding of instant rice: "Rice, flour, grains, and oils"—rice comes first. As the most important staple food for over 80% of Chinese people, the category has huge market space, but the prerequisite is to solve the two problems of "genuine" and "fair price." First, the issue of "genuine." Many people don't know that most self-heating rice on the market currently uses synthetic rice or instant rice, where the molecular structure of rice is destroyed and then mixed with starch, additives, and other substances. "Consumers often ask, 'Isn't this rice real? How can real rice be cooked in 15 minutes?'" Consumers are increasingly aware of raw materials and ingredient lists, and have higher requirements for food taste. Whether real rice can replace synthetic rice is a core pain point that must be solved for the continued development of the rice category. Second, the issue of "fair price." Self-heating rice is priced at 12-16 yuan in traditional channels, while instant noodles are priced at 4-6 yuan, which is one-third of self-heating rice. The price itself has no advantage, and the quality-to-price ratio is not high. Coupled with the taste of "rice not like rice, dishes not like dishes" and consumer concerns about food safety from additives, the current state of the self-heating rice category, in Mao's words, is "new customers won't come in, and old customers leave after one try." China has a population of 1.4 billion, with 80% using rice as a staple food, but in China's instant food, instant rice accounts for only 1.36% of the share. This is completely disproportionate and abnormal, and behind this abnormality lies exploitable market space. In contrast, South Korea, with a population of 50 million, sells 160 million boxes of fresh white rice a year, with an average per capita consumption of 3.2 boxes per year. Japan and South Korea see a 10% annual growth in fresh rice consumption, and Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and India are also growing rapidly. Mao firmly believes that if "0-additive real rice fresh rice" can replace the current mainstream "instant synthetic rice," allowing consumers to taste the texture of freshly cooked rice at home, and at the same time upgrade the dish packs in existing self-heating rice in terms of portion, quality, and 0-additive clean ingredients, the scale of China's instant rice market for single-person consumption scenarios will expand by an order of magnitude.

Sam's Club Supplier Steps Forward

Creating Fresh Rice 3.0

Guoran Food's move from behind the scenes to the front to build its own brand is not only due to its deep understanding of the instant rice market, but more importantly, its long-accumulated R&D and manufacturing foundation. From initially serving catering companies to later developing cold-serve cooking packs and providing OEM/ODM services for self-heating food brands, Guoran Food has always attached great importance to building product R&D capabilities. With R&D centers in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Zigong, heavy investment in machinery and equipment, strict quality and safety control, and enhanced technical personnel training, Guoran Food has successively passed international top-level food safety system certifications such as FSSC22000 and BRC, and has export food qualifications. Its production standards are in line with international standards, making it a long-term stable supply chain partner for over 300 well-known domestic and international catering and instant food brands. In 2022, Guoran Food became a supplier to Sam's Club after strict audits. Its Korean cold noodles rank first in Sam's Club's instant food bestseller list, and its scallion oil noodles have also long been in the top ranks. With long-term deep cultivation in R&D and manufacturing, plus the reverse shaping and support from Sam's Club, Guoran Food has gained strong product R&D and refined cost control capabilities. It is this capability that allowed Hezhenran to innovatively upgrade traditional self-heating rice comprehensively, launching the "Real Rice" series of fresh rice, and in May 2025, it received the market certification of "No. 1 in National Sales of Chinese Ambient Fresh Rice." Mao believes that the launch of fresh rice marks the entry of instant rice into the 3.0 era, effectively solving the two pain points facing the industry. First, the issue of "genuine." Using "original Northeast real rice" to replace "re-granulated instant synthetic rice," the rice ingredients contain only rice and water, clean and 0-additive. The pre-steaming and freshness-locking process truly replicates home-cooked rice, solving the rice raw material and taste problems that consumers have criticized and questioned for years. Traditional self-heating rice dish packs are formless and small in quantity (averaging 50-70 grams), plus a flavor-enhancing rice seasoning sauce, falling under the standard of "sauce-mixed dishes." Hezhenran fresh rice dish packs weigh over 120 grams, with large particles, no preservatives, and clean ingredient information that ordinary people can understand. Second, the issue of "fair price." The novelty gimmick of self-heating rice has basically disappeared, but the "unreasonable premium" of this gimmick still exists. Main products are still priced at 12-16 yuan in traditional channels. However, a bowl of noodles or rice at a restaurant or delivery costs about 10 yuan, and instant noodles are half that price; a rice dish at a restaurant or delivery costs 10-15 yuan. Self-heating rice is priced the same as restaurant or delivery food, so it has no price advantage, causing a psychological mismatch between "price" and "value" for consumers. Hezhenran brand adopts the long-term business philosophy of "not losing is winning, benefiting others before oneself," plus the advantage of total cost leadership from the source factory, bringing the price below 10 yuan while significantly upgrading the raw materials and quality of rice and dishes, with clean ingredients and peace of mind. Consumers are willing to accept it, and channels welcome it.

From Snack Systems to Distribution Channels:

Dealer Feedback Exceeds Expectations

"Now it's easier to talk with chain retail systems; some even approach us proactively. Dealer feedback has generally exceeded our expectations. We thought it would take a year before seeing reactions, after all, this fresh rice upgrade is a big step, almost a new category," Mao said. Besides the product's competitiveness, the team's market strategy is also clear. In 2023, snack stores broke out comprehensively, boosting brand alternatives, and factories with manufacturing capabilities gained rare development opportunities. Hezhenran adopted a strategy of first conquering snack channels, then entering supermarket and convenience store chains, and then moving to distribution channels. Since then, the pace and resource investment have been steadily advancing according to plan. Hezhenran products have successively entered head snack store systems such as Snack Busy, Zhao Yiming, Wanchen Group, Snack Youming, and Dai Yonghong, and then were listed in nearly 100 chain channels including Yonghui, Jiajiayue, Aeon, 7Fresh, China Resources Vanguard, Ito Yokado, Chongqing New Century, Wushang, Xianfeng Life, Meiyijia, Wudongfeng, and Xinjiayi. Snack stores, supermarkets, and convenience store chains have sales volume, helping Hezhenran as a new brand achieve from 0 to 1, bringing a basic consumer awareness base, which laid the foundation for Hezhenran's expansion in distribution channels. "Now the dealers we contact have feedback beyond our expectations. With the labels of hot sales in snack stores, high quality-to-price ratio, clean ingredient lists, and Sam's Club supplier, everyone recognizes these." In the past year, Hezhenran has developed nearly 300 dealer partners. In addition, Hezhenran products also sell well in campus channels and some B2b channels. In campus channels, students are highly price-sensitive. Hezhenran can provide more surprising prices without compromising quality, and as long as someone tries it, repurchase is easy. Second, on B2b platforms, the consumer education effect from the continuous increase in snack store penetration is obvious, and Hezhenran products also show good sell-through in small stores. Final Thoughts The rise of new-style instant food has its special background: internet traffic greatly lowered the threshold for new brands to gain traction, consumers were willing to pay a premium for new products beyond instant noodles, and later the pandemic factor added to this... When these factors disappear, consumer demand converges on the three words "quality-to-price ratio": products must be delicious, healthy, clean, and not expensive. As long as the supply side responds well to the demands of the demand side, there will be huge growth space. Hezhenran's rapid growth is a good case! New Distribution believes that in the future, truly competitive manufacturers must have two capabilities: one is strong R&D and manufacturing capabilities on the supply chain side, and the other is channel expansion and brand marketing capabilities on the market side. Finding such manufacturers to cooperate with will bring long-term incremental value returns to dealers. Mao said that in 2025, Hezhenran will adhere to the long-term brand development logic of "benefiting others before oneself," increasing brand promotion investment and support for dealer partners. If you are interested in Hezhenran products, you can scan the QR code to contact us.